original haXX

I’ve been looking for a projector for my laptop that I could use when I want to share what I have on my screen with a small group of people.  I have a friend that has a projector in his home theater, and while that’s really cool and I like it, it’s not what I’ve been looking for.

What I really wanted was a way to show up at a customer’s location and quickly set up a projector in an office (with a window) and project a 40″-50″ image from my laptop.  This would be perfect for presentations, code reviews, demos, and maybe a little you-tubing.

I had a few requirements in mind, and they were guiding my research…

• LED powered
  • This is a must.  Those incandescent bulbs in standard projectors are fragile, hot and very expensive to replace.
• Small enough to fit in my briefcase
• bright enough to see a 40″-50″ projection on a wall in an office with some ambient light
• sharp-enough graphics to actually read small pitch fonts
• enough color contrast to tell the difference between dark blue and black text
• under $500

With the wave of pico-projectors hitting the market, there was finally a few models to choose from.  Unfortunately, I have zero access to any of them to get a personal demo and have to rely on web reviews for all the info I get.  With that, I’ve determined that none of the so-called pico-projectors will meet my requirements.  They’re just not bright enough yet.

Then I found this projector, the M1 Micro Projector from AAXA.  It’s two to six times as bright as the pico models, 66 lumens versus the 10-33 lumens of the picos, and has been getting some solid reviews. That’s a picture of it you see here.  I ordered it directly from the manufacturer and expect it to arrive here on Tuesday.  I’ll post up a review and some pictures when I get it.

Update: I’ve got the projector and ran it through a verification just to make sure it works.  It does, and it’s impressive for such a small size.  Stay tuned for a complete run through.